Disney Rant- Page 2

[Practically Perfect]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 8:21pm

How did they start the jukebox musical?!?

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 8:26pm

I meant that introducing pop music (not classic Broadway-style) caused more and more pop musics to appear on Broadway, and eventually leading to *gasp* a jukebox musical.
I'm not against them [jukebox], but I just don't want them taking over the whole Broadway.

[elphaba432]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 9:14pm

Yeah, Disney shows aren't the best, but Disney musicals are good for little kids. I saw Lion King when I was four and I loved it! When you get older you have a different point of view.

[jasonf]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 10:42pm

How can someone who has Ralph Wiggum as his avatar be so condescending towards marketing and commercialism? The Simpsons started out as an almost independent, completely out of the main stream show. Over the years it became very commercialized and populist in nature. The Simpsons paved the way for tons of other shows (Family Guy, South Park etc.) and has single handedly kept adult animation alive. Disney is commerical, and is in a sense keeping Broadway alive by bringing in new blood and feeding hundreds of actors, crew etc. If you want the experimental theater to continue, in the world we live in, you need the commercial to keep it viable.

[tophertilson]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 11:16pm

Who's being condescing toward commericalism and marketing? I love THE SIMPSONS (though not so much in the last eight years or so). I love everything Pixar does (and each and every film of theirs has been a giant, well-marketed hit). I love a great many Disney movies. And as I stated, I loved their stage musical of THE LION KING. I saw X-MEN 3 (which is only so-so) this weekend with all the other geeks. I waited in endless lines to see the LORD OF THE RINGS movies and the STAR WARS movies. I live for a good summer blockbuster. LES MIZ? FRIENDS? SEINFELD? The HARRY POTTER books? Yup! Loved 'em all. I could go on and on. I have no problem with commercial entertainment. Truly.

Re-read my posts. My problem isn't just that something is being shoved down our throats. This is a business, after all. It's that what's being shoved down our throats in this instance is second-rate hackery.

TT

P.S. - And leave poor Ralph Wiggum out of it. He's none too smart. :)

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 11:19pm

Not that DISNEY doesn't belong on Broadway or anything, but it's one thing to raise money and develop a show, than to ask DISNEY Headquarters for a $16 million check and you're all set to go...

[LumBabsFan]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 11:43pm

"Why would you even consider taking children to Broadway?"

Oh indeed, how dare they even consider bringing the next set of theatergoers into a Broadway theater, really. I beat them with a stick. *eyeroll and LOL*

Forgive the sarcasm, but it was a long day at work, and that was just too silly, IMO.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 11:45pm

I dunno, if i were a kid, I might rather be beaten with a stick than see Tarzan, but that's just me.

[LumBabsFan]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 11:49pm

In the kids defense, 1) half the time, they come up with some funny stuff that make even the actors smile and 2) not all children live up to the reputation of "noisy little trouble makers," and yes the good ones do exist. If you know your kid will make it through 2 and a half hours of live theater, I say go for it and bring them. Whether they like the show or not, hell not everyone enjoys everything, the experience is there and it's a beautiful thing either way.

Updated On: 5/28/06 at 11:49 PM

[StageManager2]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 11:55pm

Feathah, thanks for the laugh. Actually, that would make a good parody, but only if it's like a five minute animated short. (I don't think I could endure two hours of it.) Somebody with the talent and access, do it!

[directorkid]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 9:21am

the fact that COOOLkid said that the actors in disney musicals can't performe in anything else makes me want to laugh! so you basically saying that heather headly, chester gregory II, sheri rene scott, etc. can't go beyond disney! two, i don't know why people are so against bringing little kids to see shows. not every show can be stephen sondheim, somebody has to appeal to the masses, for god's sake if it weren't for disney who knows what broadway would be like! disney brings families in and then they look at their playbills and go see other stuff. on saturday night, i was sitting in front of a family at tarzan (with well behaved children) and they were asking about other shows to see. and as someone who would like to be in the buisness that makes me happy because it means a whole new generation is being introduced to live theatre.

[acrocksyo]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 10:15pm

woman_in_white, I have noticed that! Lestat what? I guess composer's can't wait until something is good, they just want people to see how crappy it is right away. Heaven forbid we give anything time to devlop!

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/30/06 at 1:24am

Some of the crap in THIS thread is piled pretty high and deep here. Disney started using pop music? Broadway CREATED, hell, INVENTED pop music. EVERY major composer of songs in the 30's, 40's and 50's worked on Broadway. So don't blame Disney from wanting to connect with an audience by having the brains to use composers who connect with audiences. Personally, I'd rather sit through Tarzan or Beauty ONE HUNDRED TIMES than to ever have to listen to Adam Guettel's music again. Or Frank Wildhorn. And the fact that Disney's show have been playing for years seems to indicate that this is a popular opinion.

And to say that Disney does not contribute to the "art" of Broadway is to fail to realize this is show BUSINESS. This is a real estate business. The Shuberts and Nederlanders and the other companies own incredibly expensive property in the heart of Manhattan that they must turn a profit on. If they can't do so with musicals, they'll try rock concerts, then wrestling. Then sell the buildings for redevelopment if all else fails.

And judging from the profits they generate, Disney twists a mean pretzel.

You may hate Disney, but I'll bet this would be a much poorer place without them and their wallets.

Disney has led the way for the past decade and their investment has brought BILLIONS into the industry. A high tide floats all boats.

And to say that hey have "no class" is to call a whore a bottle of champagne. For every Stephen Sondhiem, there has been a Martin Charnin. For every George abbott there was a Flo Ziegfeld (and for every Flo a George White). Let's not get too pretentious here. This is now, and always has been a pretzel-and-beer business.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 5/30/06 at 1:59am

the fact that COOOLkid said that the actors in disney musicals can't performe in anything else makes me want to laugh!

Seems like you didn't get my sarcasm. The poster I was quoting to, said that Disney gave many of the stars a spotlight, and that made it sound like only Disney could have done it, so I replied saying that they could never have started their career in other musicals, in a sarcastic way. Does that make sense?